The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Baptisia plant, botanically known as Baptisia ‘Blonde Bombshell’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Blonde Bombshell’. The new cultivar represents a new false indigo, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing breeding program by the Inventor in Raleigh, N.C. The objective of the breeding program is to develop novel interspecific hybrids of Baptisia that exhibit good garden performance with tall and upright plant habits and inflorescences that are held well above the foliage.
‘Blonde Bombshell’ originated as a seedling that arose from seed planted from open pollination of an unnamed plant of Baptisia shaerocarpa in April of 2008 in a controlled block of potential pod and seed parents. The male parent is therefore unknown. The new Baptisia was selected as a single unique plant in 2008.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by shoot tip cuttings in May of 2009 in Raleigh, N.C. under the direction of the Inventor. Asexual propagation by shoot tip cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.